Jakarta Casual

An off beat look at Indonesian and South East Asian football from the terraces or the pub

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Monday, March 27, 2006

Jakarta and ESPN

Ok so I wanted to go. Really! Thing is though I am one of those little Englanders that finds the Merseyside Derby a bore. In fact all derbies except the Arse and the Totts leave me cold. It's the personal touch innit? I have no interest in the outcome of the Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol or Sheffield derbies and the hype I find a turn off.Especially for Saturdays game. After, as every pundit and his dog delighted in reminding us, Liverpool had scored 15 goals in 3 games. Yawn! Even Everton were on a bit of a role rattling in goals for fun. Some of the armchair pundits were billing it as Beattie against Crouch god help us...So, a classic fixture in downtown South Jakarta with Steve MacMahon and the chance to mention ONE MINUTE to him a few times, had to be a winner eh?Nah! To be fair Liverpool have got a large following here, as have Manchester United, and probably Arsenal wouldn't have generated the turn out, I guess we're not trendy enough, and the atmosphere in the bar was 'electric' but the prospect of being surrounded by red clad Indonesians singing you'll never walk alone didn't do it for me.Stevie G got sent off and my predicted 0-0 went down the swanny but football's like that Brian. The real winner was Indonesia and Jakarta. God knows the country gets a bad press, the only time it makes the news is when there's a bomb blast somewhere. To see and hear the racket generated on Saturday night may have told the region that actually Jakarta is a fun town, it's not all beard, veils and demonstrations. I hope ESPN return here. I hope Steve MacMahon comes again. I hope they feature the Arsenal that time and Steve, I'll be the beer monster sticking one finger up at you and yelling IT'S UP FOR GRABS NOW.Oh, and nothing domestically at the weekend lah!In case anyone is not sure what ONE MINUTE and IT'S UP FOR GRABS NOW refer to contact Football Focus and Football Crazy at feedback@footballcrazy.tv and mark the e mails for the attention of Steve MacMahon!

Friday, March 24, 2006

Semarang Joy Against Deli Serdang

From DavidI was so lucky yesterday being able to watch PSIS live from the stadium in Semarang, as in early morning, i was being told by my company for a work visit to semarang. The game started with a bang, 20,000 fans already there from 2 PM, just to see their team last game in this 1st roundup. Cachi had three chances and other players like Harry and suwitha almost equalised at first 15 minutes...but the 1st goal happened from Harry's freekick, his ability is pretty awesome, reminds me of Juninho of FC Lyon...so there you go..1st goal..from a superb freekick...not long after that, the PSDS side scored a goal...the whole stadium was pretty much silent afterwards.. PSIS started their attack again..but from 5 chances, none of them were equalised...so there you go..1st half gone..2nd half started...PSIS made a chance and this new young gun Julian kusuma replaced modestus...(julian is Indonesia's answer to lionel messi )..so the game is now back with a fresh air...it was becoming a boring game..PSIS had 8 corner kick and 20 chances..if i assumed, there was 80% ball position for PSIS...but no goal...it was 89 minutes and i was about to leave the game with some other fans...and assuming the score will stayed 1-1 ...but guess what? a cracker shot from the defender foffe camara finally awake the whole fans...ITS A GOAL!! 20,000 of them were jumping..i dont know how to describe them..i was crying like a baby..i cant believe it!! ..you think thats it?? no no no...de porras aka cachi...received a nice pass and he ran from the middle and passed 3 defenders before he finished..yes..FINISHED PSDS struggle for today!...lol...Another goal!!!...the whole stadium was partying..cheering...oh my God....i was in my JOY..like i never felt before...anyway..thats all..dont forget to choose your fav player for ALL STAR GAME in semarang at 5 april 2005

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Who'd have thought it?

Jakarta haven't been able to score all season, 7 goals in 12 games, so when Tangerang City, having missed a penalty, raced to a 2-0 lead no when game the Tigers much of a chance, least of all me. They pulled one back but the hosts soon recovered their 2 goal lead. Game over you'd think?Not this time. Somehow, much to the delight of their large support, Jakarta not only pulled one goal back, bugger me they equalised! Three goals in one game! I still don't see Jakarta winning the league but the way everyone else is playing they stand a chance of finishing in the top 4. From David - I actually will make two reports today, one is from my PSIS-PSMS game on sunday, but i will delay it until tomorrow, since the team (PSIS) will play again on weds versus PSDS. So here is my report on the match today, The Tangerang VS jakarta game was awesome, if you ask for my rate looking from that game, i gave that match 8/10. a superb performance by both teams at 2nd half and despite the draw, fans seems happy with the result

Saturday, March 18, 2006

The Standings So Far

This morning I met a coach of Tangerang and as is my want I tried to wrangle a free ticket. However he just laughed and said better off watching it on TV, there's going to be trouble! He was wrong, I would be better off watching the rabbits in the garden, we're mid way through the first half and it's pretty grim.OK, the latest league standings! We'll start with the Western Division.Arema Malang 11/21Medan 11/19Pasaruan Town 11/18Semarang 11/18Tangerang City 12/18Jakarta 12/18Palembang Sriwijaya 11/15Bandung 11/15Padang 11/14Jepara 11/13Yogykarta 11/12Deli Serdang 11/10Tangerang 11/10Jakarta North 11/8Don't be misled by Jakarta's lofty position, they may 3 points off the top spot but in their 12 games they have scored 7 goals so far and two of them were in the first game of the season! The big game this weekend though sees Semarang entertain Medan. Both teams have slipped recently against unlikely opponents and there is sure to be a big crowd there to see them try and get back on track and stay close to Arema MalangEastern DivisionKediri 11/24Minahasa 11/23Persela 11/19Wamena 11/19Balikpapin 12/17Slemen 11/16East Kalimantin 12/16Persibom 11/15Makassar 11/13Ternate 11/12Jayapura 11/12Sidoarjo 11/10Gianyar 11/8Malang 11/6Kediri recently suffered their first defeat of the season going down 2-1 against Slemen. It's worth pointing out only Gianyar in the Western Division have scored less goals than shot shy Jakarta.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

A New Contributer

I'd like to welcome David on board. David is Indonesian so is able to get the low down on the gossip surrounding the game here. He's a Semarang fan but let's not hold that against him!Today sees the first lose for Persik kediri and first home lose for PSMS medan, both of them were beaten by two clubs in the lower ranks. This also comes to a prove that in football, everything can happens. Looking at how Indonesian league today, im actually happy that the league has progress much better than previously. So far, The referees made not to many mistake and the players started to learn not to make stupid mistake or easy tackle in the game. But what doesnt much change is how the team implementing football in 3-5-2 position, which in my opinion, its getting so yesterday and not in a level with modern football. Anyway thats all, i hope jakartacasual happy to see my short report

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Rangkasbitung

I'm sitting at home watching Bandung and listening to the Specials, not a bad life eh?Not for the first time this season a game is being played before an empty stadium. Banung are hosting Palembang Sriwijaya at a different stadium, not their usual Siliwangi, as a punishment for fan misbehaviour. While crowds here can be a bit wild I think something should also be done about the diving by players. It looks like some are in training for China! Anyways, yesterday I visited the Badui villages about a 4 hour drive and looking out of the window there and back I was struck by one thing. The towns and kampongs we went through were alike in that they had mosques, warnets and an untidy scrap of grass with 3 rusty poles at each end hosting an impromptu kick around. Not always spontaneous, I've often seen games where the players have been neatly turned out displaying their kills in front of appreciative audiences sat around being serviced by numerous kaki lima.Which begs the question. How do players get picked up by the big clubs like Semarang or Kediri? I guess there must be some kind of scouting network in place? I guess clubs pay attention to what little schools football there is? I guess I'm not making too many assumptions here?Football is as popular here as it is anywhere else. It would be a real shame if the talented kampong kids didn't get a chance to shine on a bigger stage.If anyone knows anything about how scouting works here I'd love to hear from you.Added by DavidHere how it goes on the scouting/talent pick up clubs in Indonesia. Most club especially the big one like PSIS, PSMS, Arema, etc have their own football school, which later the school will participate on a national tournament. After they graduated from the football school, they directly go to the U21 team of their own club, just like Barcelona B or AC milan B. picking up a street footballer is very much not an habbit here, because in their view, street footballers doesnt have the basic skills and training as required. Thats about it

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Asian Champions League

This week but no Indonesian participation. Jayapura and Malang didn't finish the paperwork in time.Sounds familiar...anyway no domestic stuff till the weekend. Tangerang City joined Malang, Jakarta and Semarang at the top of the Western Division with 17 points so maybe the domestic scene is gripping enough without all this foreign stuff lah.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Saturday's Results

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Wednesday's Results

Both Jakarta and Medan had the chance of going clear at the top but both blew it. Jakarta drew 0-0 at home to Yogyakarta while the North Sumatran giants got beat 2-0 somewhere. Looks like everyone is doing their best not to win the Western Division...The Jakarta game was on live and I started watching it but half way through the first half I decided to clean the rabbit's cage. Far more entertaining!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Semarang's Blues

Well that was an action packed round of fixtures with even the goals flowing freely.

On Saturday Semera were always playing catch up against a revitalised Tangerang before going down 3-2. To add to the surprises Jakarta North scored their second goal in a 1-1 draw with Jepara and got their first point.

Sunday saw 20,000 fill Palembang's Gelora Sriwijaya as the home team defeated visiting Medan 2-0. Padang drew 1-1 with Deli Serdang. Arema Malang, last week kicked out of the Asian Cup for not pposting a letter on time, beat Pasuaruan comfortably 3-0. jakarta drew 0-0 with Bandung while Tangerang City tonked Yogyakarta 4-3.

Further shocks and excitement on Tuesday when Jakarta North beat Semarang 2-1 at Cilgon while Tangerang drew 2-2 with Jepara.

In the Western Division 30,000 flocked to the Papua derby where visiting Wamena added to Jayapura's woes by nicking a 1-0 victory. Highflying Kediri were surprisingly held at home by Ternate but Tuesday saw them thrash Makassar 6-0!

The top 4 in the Western Division before today's fixtures:

Are Malang 9 17Semarang 9 17Medan 8 16Tangerang City 9 16

Top 4 in the Eastern Division

Kediri 9 23Lamongan 9 17Minhasa 7 15Wamena 9 15

Today Medan visit Padang while Tangerang City entertain Bandung. The season is livening up! More on the Eastern Division later.